Saginaw Spirit's high hopes makes playoff loss a disappointing end to season

SAGINAW, MI — The end of the hockey season for the Saginaw Spirit came pretty much how it began and ebbed and flowed throughout the 2013-14 campaign — a bit of hope overshadowed by disappointment.

Michael Curtis scored nearly three minutes into overtime Thursday, March 27, in Game 5 to hand Erie a 3-2 win over the Spirit. The Otters won the tightly-contested series four games to one.

Erie came-from-behind in Game 1 with a goal in the closing minutes to claim the victory before snatching an overtime win in Game 2. Saginaw answered with an overtime win in Game 3, but the Otters closed out with a convincing win in Game 4 and Curtis’ overtime tally in Game 5.

“I don’t think 4-to-1 shows how tough of a series it really was,” Spirit goalie Jake Paterson said. “With three overtime games, it could have gone either way with a couple different bounces.”

But as it happened all season, the bounces never seemed to go the Spirit’s way.

Coming into the year, the Spirit had one of the league’s best goaltenders in Paterson, who has signed an entry level deal with the Detroit Red Wings, in addition to NHL prospects Eric Locke, Justin Kea, Nick Moutrey and Jimmy Lodge. And they had prized rookies such as Mitchell Stephens, Ryan Orban and Michael Holmes to come in and learn the ropes.

They traded for NHL prospects Cody Payne and Justin Sefton in the offseason, and they acquired a physical presence on the defensive end in Sean Callaghan. They traded for another NHL draft pick in defensemen Jesse Graham, a New York Islanders prospect, early in the season.

It all seemed set up for something big that just never came together.

“It’s been an up-and-down season,” Saginaw coach Greg Gilbert said. “The one thing that’s been consistent with our team is its inconsistency. We showed streaks of 14 games winning 12 and losing two, then winning six in a row. We just couldn’t put it together consistently night after night for whatever reason.”

Locke came back for an overage season after finishing as the No. 4 point producer in the league last year with 44 goals and 53 assists, but a shoulder injury forced him to miss 20 games. Injuries cut into Lodge’s playing time early in the season, too.

Payne was the team’s leading scorer throughout the first half of the season, but he missed nearly three weeks from suspensions.

A combination of injuries and players leaving for international tournaments contributed to a dreadful December that saw the Spirit drop 9 of 10 games — after moving within two games of first in the West Division at Thanksgiving. And that overshadowed Saginaw's participation in the first outdoor game in OHL history in the Hockeytown Winter Festival at Comerica Park in Detroit.

But hope continually reared its frustrating head to Saginaw and the Spirit faithful.

Saginaw opened January with six straight wins, including a 2-0 shutout of two-time defending champion London, and it secured victories over many of the league’s best teams such as Erie, Guelph and Sault Ste. Marie.

“We showed signs of being a really good team,” Gilbert said. “We beat all the good teams in the league for a reason, because we played them and played them hard. … We did make progress, but we were not able to sustain it with the way we want to play night in and night out. Ultimately, that’s what cost us.”

“It’s been pretty exhausting with all the stuff we’ve had to deal with on and off the ice,” Locke said. “I really think we came together and put forth a good effort. A lot of teams would have folded it in, and we made a pretty good push.”

Their push in the playoffs against the Otters was pretty good, but not good enough.

The final loss marked the end of several careers with the Spirit, including Locke, who went through two trades and injury woes to become a Buffalo Sabres draft pick and captain of Saginaw. Fellow overage players Sefton and Kristoff Kontos used their last eligibility in the OHL to have career years for the Spirit, and Paterson is likely moving on to the professional ranks with Detroit's American Hockey League affiliate Grand Rapids.

Saginaw could also lose Kea, Payne and Graham to the professional ranks with the minor league teams of their respective NHL clubs.

However, Lodge and Moutrey are expected back, as well as Stephens who turned heads with a strong rookie season. Dylan Sadowy figures to see an increased role after bursting onto the scene to lead the team with 27 goals.

“We’ve got a good group of kids coming back,” Gilbert said. “I think we’re going to be younger next year, but that’s something we need to do and build with.

“There’s guys coming back next year that need to prove themselves. They need to play better. If you want to play in the playoffs, then you don’t make the mistakes that they’re making.”

Cory Butzin covers sports for MLive/Saginaw News. Email
him at cbutzin1@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.